The Agony of 96: When Even a Club Record Wasn’t Enough

Sheffield Wednesday’s 2022–23 League One campaign will go down in history—not just for its heartbreak, but for its remarkable consistency and defiance of expectations.

The Owls finished the regular season with a stunning 96 points—a club record total under the modern three-points-for-a-win system. In almost any other year, that would have secured automatic promotion. But 2022–23 was no ordinary season.

Plymouth Argyle surged to the title with 101 points, while Ipswich Town claimed second place on 98 points—meaning Wednesday, despite amassing the highest-ever points total by a team not automatically promoted, had to face the dreaded play-offs.

To put that in perspective:

• 96 points would have won League One in 8 of the 10 seasons prior.

• In 2015–16, Wigan won the league with 87. In 2020–21, Hull topped the table with 89.

• Even in the previous season (2021–22), Wigan again won the title—but this time with just 92 points.

Wednesday's 96-point haul included:

• 28 wins

• 12 draws

• Just 6 defeats

• A goal difference of +44

• The best defensive record in the league, conceding just 37 goals across 46 games.

Under Darren Moore, the team equalled a club record 23-game unbeaten run, and set a new record for the longest run without conceding in League One—7 clean sheets in a row, between January and March.

But as cruel fate would have it, that sensational form wasn’t quite enough.

Thankfully, Wednesday went on to write their name into EFL folklore with one of the greatest play-off comebacks of all time, overturning a 4–0 deficit against Peterborough United before winning promotion at Wembley.

Still, that regular season will always leave fans wondering: how did 96 not do the job?

It’s a reminder that even your best might not be enough—unless it's the best.